A heartfelt and entertaining tale of the human-animal bond.
In Kay’s middle-grade novel, an indefatigable Missouri girl takes on a puppy mill.
Twelve-year-old Mia Mancinelli has a delightful encounter in the woods when she spots and then cozies up to a golden retriever with a quiet charm and a swollen, pregnant belly. There’s not much Mia can do, however, when a man shows up, says the dog is his, and leads the expectant mother away. Mia can’t have a dog of her own, as her mother is deathly afraid of them. But she also can’t forget the golden retriever’s pleading look as the man took her, so Mia, who names the dog Scout, vows to find her. With her best friend, Cassie, in tow, she tracks down the kennel where Scout likely is, only to realize it’s a puppy mill. There are a lot of mistreated dogs there, and the friends will need some help if they want to save them all. But will Scout be there? And will she still remember Mia if the two reunite? The plucky young hero and narrator of Kay’s story infuses the narrative with abundant buoyancy. She can be overly dramatic: “I swear, I’ll die if she’s not here.” She is also quick to recognize her own flaws and expresses gratitude for all the help she gets. Dynamic supporting characters surround her, including Cassie, who’s evidently the only Jewish student in their 7th-grade class; Mia’s mom, whose fear of dogs stems from a childhood incident; and Mia’s estranged dad, who’s not entirely out of her life. Concise prose and succinct chapters make this a quick read without sacrificing the finer details (“Cassie and I scramble up the stairs. My body’s all energized like the time I had to get an epinephrine injection after a bunch of wasps stung me.”).
A heartfelt and entertaining tale of the human-animal bond.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2025
ISBN: 9798992942606
Page Count: 212
Publisher: SpeakingforSpot
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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